We're getting to the climax now! Thank you for all the great reviews. I really appreciate them and can't wait to see what you make of this chapter! :D
ENJOY!
(Don't forget to review! Pretty please...)
Chapter 10
The group walked down the wide hallway on silent toes. Raven led the way, a pair of manacles binding her wrists behind her back. Laura at her side was also handcuffed. Behind them came Rick and Otto, the former carrying the assassin's katanas and the latter holding a gun.
"How much further?" Rick whispered, looking over his shoulder. "I feel like we're being watched."
"Would you stop being so jumpy? And for your information we are being watched. Ever heard of cameras?" Otto hissed back.
"Yeah well I was only trying to ease the tension."
"Would you two cut it out?" Raven snapped. They'd reached an intersection and running towards them from the right was another guard.
"What are you doing?" He asked, as he came to a stop beside them.
"Found these two trying to turn off the power in the generator room. We're taking them to the Detention Centre." Otto replied crisply, head bowed so that his face was hidden in shadow.
The man frowned. "You do know that the Detention Centre is the other way, don't you?"
"It is?" Rick asked, gulping. "Blimey this school is confusing. We were just following directions. Must've taken a wrong turn somewhere. Any idea which way we should be going?"
"Yeah." The guard replied. "Backwards. Now give those swords to your friend there and come with me."
"What? Me?" Rick asked eyes wide.
"No the invisible man standing to your left." The man replied, sarcastically. "Of course you. I need your help capturing a couple of loose students."
Rick looked at Otto for help, his face pleading. The other boy just shrugged and held out his free hand for the katanas. His brother grudgingly handed them over and turned to follow the guard who had already begun to head down the adjoining corridor. The group watched the two of them disappear around the corner.
"He'll be fine." Raven said, noting the look on Otto's face.
"No he won't. He doesn't know his way around the school. What if they realise he's an imposter? What then?"
"Otto. He's your big brother not the other way around. You shouldn't need to worry about him." Laura said, trying to reassure him.
"Yeah. Only one problem. We've been trained to deal with situations like this. No, scrap that." The boy said shaking his head. "We've been in situations like this before. He hasn't."
"Don't worry. If he's anything like you, he'll be fine." Raven said. "Now I think that we should change course. Our direction will have raised suspicions. Let's head for the Detention Centre and see if we can't free anyone held captive."
Rick jogged on behind the guard, his breathing shallow and his mind racing. What was he going to do now? He'd been separated from the only people he could trust and he didn't even know how to get back to them.
"Do we know which students we're looking for?" He asked the man, hoping to find out as much as he could.
"How the heck do you expect me to know that? I don't work here." The guard snapped back at him. He slowed into a walk and Rick followed suit, pulling the cap on his head lower over his eyes.
There was a sudden crash from above and the man drew his gun, aiming at the loose grate in the ceiling of the hallway. He peered into the narrow space above, pulling a torch from his belt and flicking it to Rick.
"Switch it on." He instructed. The boy did as he was told shining the light up into the vent above. It didn't work; the shadows only darkened.
Rick walked right up to stand beneath the gap, straining to see anything. Then out of the corner of his, he caught a flash of movement.
"Watch out!" The boy shouted. But it was too late. A sharp thwack to the guard's neck sent him dropping to the floor, struggling to breathe. Simultaneously a sudden weight descended upon his shoulders, forcing Rick's knees to crumple and him to fall flat on his face, the torch skittering away across the ground.
"Pass me some rope. You tie him up and I'll tie this one up." A female voice said above him. There was the sound of something being thrown and caught and then Rick felt his hands being roughly pulled behind him. He began to struggle, snapping out of his shock. The boy managed to get one arm free and wildly hit out at the person on top of him.
Rick's elbow careered into his assailant's face and he felt the weight on his back subside as whoever it was staggered away. Then without a seconds thought, he leapt to his feet and charged the attacker who'd tied up the guard and shoved him in a side room. The boy crashed into the person and they both fell, tumbling to the floor.
His opponent immediately kicked out at him, and Rick rolled away across the floor, clutching at his stomach. He glanced back at the person and found that he'd actually attacked a boy no older than himself with long black hair, tied back. For a moment their eyes met. And then the boy began to laugh.
Rick frowned, his muscles tensed in case of another attack. But it never came. Instead the other boy flipped onto his feet and offered his hand.
"What are you doing?" The voice came from a pretty blonde girl who'd appeared from behind the boy. She stopped when she saw Rick on the floor and her eyes widened.
"Otto! Where've you been all this time?" She exclaimed. Rick frowned. They thought that he was his brother.
"Long story." He replied, grasping the offered hand and pulling himself to his feet.
"You look different." The boy said, studying him.
"I do?" Rick asked.
"If Wing says you look different, you look different." The girl said, arms crossed. "Hey I know what it is. Your hair's brown."
"Brown? Oh yeah." Rick said, clasping his hands together. "Disguise. I rubbed mud into my hair to make it look brown. White stands out too much."
"You did a good job of it then." Wing said eyeing his hair. Rick rocked back on his heels feeling uncomfortable. At least the cap hid the length of his hair, otherwise he'd have had to explain why it had grown so long in such a short amount of time.
"Anyway we need to catch up O... Laura and Raven." Rick said, pointing over his shoulder.
"Where were they headed?" The girl asked.
"Erm..." Rick thought back. "To H.I.V.E. mind's central processing unit so that we can get him back online."
"That's not a good idea. It's crawling with guards. We'll get caught. Better if we go to the accommodation blocks and get the rest of the students on our side. Much simpler. And there's less guards." She replied tersely.
"What do you think that we should do?" Rick asked, turning to Wing.
"Shelby's right. Better to help those who are kept prisoner." The boy replied.
"Fine then. Ladies first." Rick said, raising his eyebrows up at the blonde. At least he'd learnt something from his little detour. Wing and Shelby were Otto's friends and they would help him get back to his brother.
Nero paced across the little cell, frustrated at the helplessness that he was feeling. This was his school and he could do nothing to protect it. On top of that, Professor Pike had decided that he was going to recite the elements of the periodic table and their relative masses over and over again to pass the time.
He stopped his pacing and sat down on the concrete bed, massaging his temples. Then he sighed and stood up again, peering past the bars. The rattling of keys could be heard coming from further down the corridor but he couldn't see anyone.
"Where did you find these?" A gruff voice asked. Nero reckoned that it was probably their guard.
"Hiding in the generator room, trying to turn off the power." A second voice replied. The man frowned. He knew that voice. And he'd assumed that he'd never hear it again.
Suddenly there was a thump as something heavy fell to the floor. Footsteps approached at a fast pace and Nero smiled in relief as he watched Raven, Laura and Otto appear.
"Nice to see that you're still alive Mr Malpense." He said as the boy began unlocking the door.
"Is it? I thought you'd feel cheated. This was your chance to get rid of me." Otto said grinning. "Although I'd appreciate it if next time you told me about my brother before I met him. Leaves me time to practise my shocked face."
Nero shook his head and stepped out of the cell as the door was pulled open. Further along the passageway Professor Pike was being led out of his room, along with Colonel Francisco and Ms Leon.
"What do we do now Max?" Raven asked, her katanas back in their rightful place.
"We need to retake H.I.V.E. Which means stopping whoever these people are from getting to H.I.V.E. mind's seed core and driving them away." Nero replied.
"But we have no men to fight back with." Francisco said angrily. "They killed them all!"
"The students." Otto said quietly. "We use the students. Together they'd be unstoppable. Just think about it." He continued as Nero began to object. "How many students are there? And how many men are there to stop? We'd easily outnumber them."
"Yes but we'd still be putting their lives at risk. Something I'm not willing to do." Nero said, shaking his head. "We'll find another way."
"You do that then." Otto said, walking away.
"Where are you going?" The man asked.
"To H.I.V.E. mind's processing unit. Someone has to get him back online." The boy said over his shoulder.
"Go with him." Nero said, turning to Professor Pike and Raven. They nodded and hurried to catch up with Otto.
"What do we do then?" Laura asked, watching the group leave.
"Why Miss Brand. We're going to get the Communications Centre back under our control."